


I Wait (Ah Wae)

by VikingLord



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Baekchen - Freeform, Chansoo but they're not dating, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-19
Updated: 2018-01-19
Packaged: 2019-03-06 17:22:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13415997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VikingLord/pseuds/VikingLord
Summary: Prompt # 136Title: I Wait (Ah Wae)Rating: PG-13Word Count: 4550Warnings: NoneSummary: Jongdae moves out of his boyfriend's home when he finds him cheating on him. He finds a new apartment with three roommates and learns to live with complete strangers. His roommates turn out to be a handful especially Baekhyun who Jongdae can't quite figure out.Author's Note: Baekchen bicker a lot in this because that's their thing.





	I Wait (Ah Wae)

**Author's Note:**

> What did i just write? Pretty sure this wasn't what the prompter wanted but enjoy I guess.

The building he stood in front of had once been painted pink apparently but the colour had long faded away and dark red bricks were visible from beneath. As a gush of wind strong came his way, he pulled his jacket closer, the one that was customised with a JxJ at the back. It had been a gift from Junmyeon. He should've gotten rid of it by now. It had been a month since he'd witnessed his damned boyfriend shagging his colleague. One full month since he'd moved out and spent his evenings in his parents' attic that had served as his bedroom for the duration of his stay. One month too long to be wallowing about some douche who didn't think twice before completely throwing away their two-year relationship.  
And so here he was in front an apartment building he'd read about from the newspaper his mum had told him to discard. The landlord, Mr. Lee, had seemed decent enough and the rent was low considering it was located in the very centre of Seoul. Jongdae would've been an idiot if he didn't take the offer.  
The lobby was empty when he entered except for the security guard who sat in a corner eating a donut. He nodded at him as Jongdae passed him and entered the lift. He'd taken some of his stuff to the apartment earlier but strangely enough he hadn't run into any of his roommates.  
"Fuck you, Park Chanyeol!" The first thing Jongdae heard when he entered the house was someone shouting. Well, this will be lovely. He surveyed the living room which was cramped with luggage and suitcases. A short guy with large eyes exited one of the rooms followed by a significantly taller man. "I'd literally only bought those yesterday!" The shorter was screaming before they both turned towards Jongdae, their expressions immediately changing upon seeing him.  
"Oh. Hello." The tall guy said in an oddly deep voice for someone who was cowering in fear just a few seconds ago.  
He tried smiling at him, "Hi. I'm Jongdae." This was not awkward at all.  
"Nice to meet you, Jongdae. I'm Kyungsoo and this is Chanyeol." The short guy stepped in, his face a perfect definition of a deadpan as he said it, "And before you ask. Yes, I've known this one here for a long time. I hope you can survive with him too. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to do some unpacking." With that he grabbed a suitcase from in front of the hallway and dragged it inside one of the rooms.  
"Well, he's friendly." Jongdae said, as he turned towards Chanyeol, who had had a blinding smile on face the entire time.  
"Kyungsoo? He's just having a bad day and well, I might have accidentally sat on his brand-new headphones." He gave a sheepish look,"But don't worry. He'll warm up to you soon." He patted Jongdae on the back, who wasn't quite sure he would want someone like that to 'warm up' to him.  
"Oh, and Jongdae. I think it was your stuff that I moved out of this room." He pointed towards the room besides Kyungsoo's. "I put it in the downstairs bedroom. I hope you don't mind."  
"I don't mind." Jongdae said as Chanyeol launched into an explanation about how he needed a room near Kyungsoo and living on separate floors would be inconvenient.  
Jongdae really didn't mind once he saw the spacious hall that had two doors on each side. The space offered a sense a privacy that he wouldn't have gotten otherwise. He heard FTISLAND blaring from the room on the right and assumed that it was already occupied. Once in his own room, he dropped that last of the bags that he'd brought with him and started unpacking and arranging his stuff.  
The walls were very thin and the song from across the hall was bleeding into the room. He hummed along to his roommate's playlist for the next two hours as he finished sorting out his stuff. He took out his backpack, the last thing that was still unpacked. He took out a bunch of books, files and yogurt packets? Those needed to go in the bin.  
Cradling five yogurt packets in his arms, he opened the door of his room but somehow his toe got stuck in the hallway carpet and the packet went flying from his hands as lost balance. His face his flat on the ground, and he could feel yogurt dripping inside his ears. After cursing at himself several times he pushed himself off the ground only to be met face to face by a redhead whose shirt was decorated in yogurt splashes. The stale liquid gave a smell and the man made a face, inspecting his grey shirt.  
Jongdae looked at the man who stared back wide eyed. His pale face was also covered with drops of yogurt. One in particular, slid down his lips, which his tongue reached out to catch. It's not like Jongdae was staring. He was just too much in a trance to even notice liquid seeping into his socks. The man looked at him and gave him an awkward half smile that almost made his heart leap out.  
"Shit."  
A beat passed and neither moved.  
"What the he'll happened here?!" It was Chanyeol, standing at the bottom of the stairs, his eyes fixed at the mess.  
"It's nothing. We'll clean it up. Is there anything you wanted?" The redhead spoke.  
"Uh... Kyungsoo was making dinner for us." He said, still looking at disaster.  
"Okay. We'll be upstairs in a while." The guy turned to Jongdae, after Chanyeol left, and flashed him another smile.  
"This is a weird way to meet." He laughed, "I'm Byun Baekhyun."  
"Kim Jongdae. And I'm sorry I should've been more careful." He scratched his head, he was about to tell Baekhyun that he didn't have to clean up for him but the other man had already ducked into his room and got them tissues.  
They ended up spending more than half an hour cleaning up, in attempts to rid the carpet of any spots. When they finally finished and went up to the living room it was smelling like absolute heaven. Over dinner they found out the coincidentally they were all the same age with Kyungsoo being the youngest. This particular information was shocking to both Jongdae and Baekhyun since the boy had already started acting like he was in charge. Conversation flowed easily since neither Baekhyun nor Chanyeol seemed to be too fond of silences.  
“Chanyeol wanted to study his last year in Seoul and his mum won’t let him come here unless I was going too. I was basically blackmailed into coming here.” Kyungsoo threw an ugly look at Chanyeol as he said this.  
Chanyeol elbowed him, “But you like it here, don’t you? Just like I said you would.”  
“You’re still in school? What are you studying?” It was Baekhyun who spoke.  
“Yep. We started school late and toured with a band. It was fun but it wasn’t for us. I’m a vocal major, by the way. Chanyeol’s in music composition.”  
Jongdae looked up at that, “I was a vocal major too before I switched to Accounting.” He didn’t think it was important to explain further on how he’d taken Accounting because it’s what his parents wanted him to do and because a pretty guy at a party had convinced him. That pretty guy being his now ex-boyfriend. Now that Jongdae thought about it, Junmyeon often had more influence on his decisions than he should’ve. He shook his head. He wasn’t going to let himself think about Junmyeon.  
Kyungsoo quizzed him about what he’d studied and asked about his interest in the subject. The conversation drifted towards University in general and Jongdae and Baekhyun recounted their days in school.  
“Seoul kids are different from everyone else. You gotta be careful around them.” Jongdae was telling Chanyeol when he mentioned his semester was starting this week. “Seoul people in general.” He turned around towards Baekhyun, who’d also only just moved to the city.  
“Well, you’ve lived here for quite some time. Should we be careful around you too?” Baekhyun spoke with teasing glint in his eyes.  
“I don’t know. Should you?” Jongdae matched his expression.  
They sat at the table, talking even after their plates were empty and their stomachs full. It wasn’t until eleven o’clock that Jongdae realised he had to go to work the next day and he decided to call it a night. He went to sleep with the events of the day reeling in his head. It seemed having roommates wasn’t all that bad.

…

‘I need to have a look around this neighbourhood’ was the excuse that Baekhyun had used to tag along with Jongdae on his grocery shopping trip.  
They were in the pet care aisle for reasons unknown and Jongdae was looking in his trolley, ticking off the items off the list all four of them had carefully crafted together. Baekhyun was wandering aimlessly behind him, occasionally picking up something from the shelves before placing it back.  
“This is cute, right?” He was holding a dog collar and was dangling it in front of Jongdae’s eyes. The collar was thin black strip with small charm hanging from the front. Jongdae eyed it curiously, “I didn’t know you were into weird shit like that.”  
Baekhyun stared at him in confusion before he finally understood. “No, you idiot!” He shrieked, much to the annoyance of the people around. “It’s for my brother’s dog. Forget it. I’m not getting it now.” He put it back on the shelf.  
Jongdae was doubled over with laughter, “Your face though! I should’ve taken a picture!”  
“Yes. Very funny.” Baekhyun said as he dragged the trolley away from, towards the toiletries section, cheeks tinted red from embarrassment.  
“Wait. We still need to get a few things.” Jongdae called out after him.  
“I know. Kyungsoo’s shampoo and cereal for you and Chanyeol.”  
Jongdae scanned his list. Those were in fact the only items that were left. “How did you? I thought you weren’t paying attention.” He didn’t remember Baekhyun even once looking at the list. “I guess I just have a good memory.” The other boy mumbled.  
Once they paid for all their thing and had loaded the stuff into the back seat of Jongdae’s car Baekhyun decided that they should eat the fancy looking ice cream from the even more fancy looking ice cream shop. “Baekhyun, it’s like 50,000 ₩ for an ice cream cone.” Jongdae tried reasoning with him.  
“We can buy just one and share it. Then it’ll be 25,000 ₩ per person. How’s that sound?” He was already skipping towards the shop and Jongdae unwillingly followed.  
Baekhyun eyes glowed as he looked at the display of ice creams. “You’re not allergic to anything, are you?” He glanced back and ordered one with nuts after Jongdae shook his head.  
They chose a bench outside to sit and eat their ice cream. They sat in silence for a while before Baekhyun said, “We’re kind of sharing spit right now and I’ve only met you like three days ago.”  
“Ew. Now you made me think about it.” Jongdae said as he pushed the cone into Baekhyun’s hands. He might have imagined but he saw a slight disappointed look on the other’s face for a brief moment. “I really shouldn’t eat that much sugar anyway.” He said.  
“Can I ask why?” Baekhyun asked as he was licking the ice cream in an overly exaggerated manner to taunt him.  
“Because I wanna look hot in case I run into my ex anytime soon.” Jongdae said. “He should know what he lost.”  
Baekhyun’s attention was focused on him now. “He did have a lot to lose.” Jongdae laughed even though Baekhyun’s tone was serious. “Come on now. Finish that up so we can hurry home.”

...

He spotted Baekhyun sitting on the sofa when he entered the apartment. The boy was wrapped up in four layers of blankets from what Jongdae had been able to count. Surely it wasn’t that cold.  
“Hey.” He said aloud to get the other’s attention.  
“Jongdae, do you know how the heating thing works? This place is freezing.” Baekhyun whimpered.  
Jongdae chuckled to himself. It wasn’t even the end of November and Baekhyun was already complaining about the cold. “I’ll take a look at it.” He strode over to the thermostat and fiddled with it until the temperature was hot enough for Baekhyun to get rid of the blankets.  
“It seems as if you’ve never experienced before winters before.” Jongdae sat down on the sofa next to Baekhyun.  
“Seoul is much colder than I expected.” He said, shifting the blankets away to make more room. He turned to look at Jongdae, his pursed, “Well, I guess I’m being a little dramatic.”  
Jongdae looked right back at him, maintaining the eye contact, “Maybe. Just a little.”  
“But that’s part of my charm.” Baekhyun was saying, fluttering his eyelashes to get the point across. Jongdae stared at him.  
“Is it?” What were they talking about again?  
More staring. Well, this isn’t getting awkward at all. Jongdae wondered if he should make and excuse and head towards the safety of his room but fortunately saved by the bell. Literally.  
“Is someone home?” A voice called out, followed by loud knocking.  
“I’ll get that!” Baekhyun exclaimed a little too loudly and sprang up from his seat.  
It turned out that it was Kyungsoo who was behind the door. He was telling Baekhyun about how he’d given his Chanyeol how the other had conveniently forgot to give them back. Jongdae greeted him but kept his seat on the sofa, tuning out whatever it was that him and Baekhyun were talking about. His gaze shifted towards Baekhyun, mind not processing his words but eyes focused on how his lips moved and how he talked with his hands.  
“Jongdae.” The voice brought him out of his thoughts, “Jongdae, you’re staring.”  
The words made him jump. “I umm… I should go change.” Suddenly remembering that he was still in his work clothes.  
He heard a laughter as he raced down towards his room.

…

Okay so Jongdae might’ve been imagining it the first few times but a month into their living together he noticed something was up with Baekhyun. The guy was either always obnoxiously loud or just too fidgety whenever the two of them were together, there was no in between. He also noticed how touchy the other could be. He’d put an arm around your shoulder, give you tight hugs before leaving the house or he’d brush his fingers through your hair (this was one that he seemed to have reserved for Jongdae only). Jongdae was kind of getting used to the hugs at least which was surprising considering the ultimate non-touchy person he thought himself to be.  
“Jongdae, there’s some cute guy looking for you.” Luhan peeked into his cubicle.  
Jongdae got up and headed for the waiting lounge where he noticed Baekhyun’s tuft of red hair, the colour had started to faint to a light pink now. “Hey.” The boy said when he saw him.  
“Hey yourself.” Jongdae watched him stand up and walk towards him, “To what do I owe the pleasure of this surprise visit?”  
“Kyungsoo sent me on a mission to steal you away from work so we can join them to celebrate Chanyeol’s birthday.”  
“But Chanyeol’s birthday isn’t until…” He thought for a moment, “Oh, shit. It’s Friday today, isn’t it? Let me just talk to my boss. Wait for me here.”  
His boss was feeling lenient that day, thankfully, and he was let off an hour before he was supposed to. He hurried back to the lobby where Baekhyun was waiting.  
“I didn’t even get something for him.” He said to Baekhyun, once they were in the car and were on the road.  
“Just buy him a drink or something. I don’t think Chanyeol would mind.” Baekhyun swerved the steering wheel a little too wildly than Jongdae would have liked. Due to the busy Seoul streets, it was taking them a lot longer than it should. Jongdae was looking at Baekhyun’s CD collection.  
“Why is there no Super Junior?” He complained loudly and the older turned towards him. “Growing out of idol music is a part of being an adult.” Baekhyun said, taking the CDs out of his hands.  
“Eyes on the road, Baekhyun.” He lifted his right hand to direct the other’s head towards the windscreen. “And don’t think that I haven’t heard you sing along to your SNSD playlist.”  
“These were my Dad’s anyway.” Baekhyun mumbled, gesturing towards the CDs.  
A moment passed before Jongdae felt a hand covering his own. “We’re here.” Baekhyun announced as he parked the car in front of a small building.  
Once inside, Jongdae was positive he’d been there before. They spotted Kyungsoo and Chanyeol at a table in the corner and made their way over to them.  
“Happy birthday to you…” Jongdae sang, greeting Chanyeol with a bright smile. “Oh, thank you, Jongdae.”  
“Yeah thank you, Jongdae. He’s been nagging me about singing for him.” Kyungsoo spoke from across the table.  
“Well, it doesn’t really feel like a birthday unless someone sings a birthday song for you.” Chanyeol piped in.  
Kyungsoo took Baekhyun’s arm and snuggled closer towards him. “Are you okay, Kyungsoo? You don’t look so good.” Jongdae asked. “We already had a few drinks before guys came.” Kyungsoo said.  
“Kyungsoo’s a little,” Chanyeol started but was interrupted by a kick in the shin.  
“Don’t you dare say it Park Chanyeol!”  
“Lightweight?” Baekhyun spoke from beside him at which Kyungsoo peeled himself away from him and slammed his head on the table. “I hate you all!”  
“Will you be able to have one more because I’m getting the drinks for this round.” He got up but not before hearing Kyungsoo’s grunt which he took as a yes and Chanyeol’s “Someone’s feeling generous tonight.”  
A few more drinks and Kyungsoo was completely done for. Chanyeol was sitting beside him, forcing him to drink some water. Both Jongdae and Baekhyun had offered to take care of Kyungsoo so Chanyeol could go to the dance floor. “No, you guys go. I’m fine here.”  
“Do you want to dance?” Baekhyun looked at Jongdae. “Yeah, sure.”  
They stood in the middle of the dance floor, just staring at each other for half of the song before Baekhyun spoke, “When I suggested we dance I meant with other people. Not together.” He was fidgeting again.  
Jongdae couldn’t help finding it adorable. “Okay. I don’t mind either way.” He left Baekhyun at the dance floor and went to sit at the bar.  
The bartender made him try some unknown cocktail. He slowly drank it as searched for his roommate at the dance floor. Baekhyun seemed to be caught in the middle of two guys none of whom was shamelessly grinding on Baekhyun’s ass. Not that Jongdae was thinking about Baekhyun’s ass.  
Jongdae instinctively got up and cut through a crowd of people towards where Baekhyun was. “Kris.” He said and the tall guy behind Baekhyun looked up. Jongdae knew that face was way too familiar. “Jongdae! What are you doing here?”  
“Just here with friends. I was actually leaving.” He grabbed Baekhyun’s hand and led him away.  
“What was that?” Baekhyun asked once they were out of ear shot. “I’m doing you a favour. Trust me.”  
They made their way to their table and saw Chanyeol and Kyungsoo wrapped up in each other. Kyungsoo’s hands were visible from underneath Chanyeol’s hair as Chanyeol’s head blocked the view. It was no mystery as to what they were doing.  
Baekhyun whistled, “Well, that escalated quickly.” Chanyeol turned abruptly at this, revealing a flushed faced Kyungsoo. “We’re leaving now. You can continue you make out session in the car if you want but I’m only allowing that for today.” Baekhyun said, raising a finger to add to the dramatic effect.

… 

Jongdae finally knew what Chanyeol did when he wasn’t with Kyungsoo, he sobbed and moped about not being with Kyungsoo. After the events of Chanyeol’s birthday Kyungsoo had decided to completely avoid the other guy. It had been a week and Chanyeol’s usual happy and bright self seemed to have disappeared, replaced with a gloomy, sleep deprived one. He had been skipping classes too, hoping to catch Kyungsoo while he was home. Jongdae didn’t think it was healthy for Chanyeol nor was the cold atmosphere that seemed to have built around their house helping the situation.  
“We need to make them talk to each other. It’s obvious Kyungsoo likes him but he’s trouble accepting that himself so he chooses to ignore in hopes of getting rid of any feelings.” Baekhyun was saying.  
“What do you mean by Kyungsoo obviously likes him? How did you assume that out of nowhere?”  
“I didn’t assume. It’s quite obvious if you weren’t so thick headed about it.”  
“Chanyeol obviously likes Kyungsoo not the other way around. But you’re right we have to get them to talk.”  
Baekhyun laid out on Jongdae’s bed where they’d been busy conspiring. “Ah! It’s so cosy here. Do you mind if I sleep here for today?”  
“Yes, I do.” Jongdae took Baekhyun’s arms and dragged him off the bed.  
The plan to get Chansoo back together worked much more easily than either of the would’ve expected. Baekhyun silently cheered from in front of the closed bedroom door when they heard Kyungsoo say something along the lines of ‘I don’t think I can ever live without you, Chanyeol.’  
How pathetic, Jongdae thought.  
Baekhyun skipped over towards Jongdae, “I told you he liked him.” He was trying to keep his voice down so as to not disturb the other two inside Kyungsoo’s room.  
“Yeah whatever.” Jongdae shrugged.  
“Yeah whatever.” Baekhyun mimicked him, “Now where’s the money?” he extended a hand.  
“What money?”  
“The bet that we had.”  
“We didn’t have any bet.”  
“Really? Okay then I’ll let you treat me to that shit expensive ice cream.”

…

They’d all decided to throw a pre-Christmas party before everyone headed home for the holidays. The living room was full of festive decorations and Jongdae was currently working on the tree in the corner of the room.  
“I’m coming!” He announced as the door bell rung and walked over to open the door.  
“Hi!” It was Luhan and Minseok, “We’re not the first ones, aren’t we?” Minseok said as the shuffled inside and Jongdae took their coats from them. “Where are your roommates?” “Baekhyun and Chanyeol went to get drinks and Kyungsoo’s in the kitchen.” He tilted his head towards the kitchen as he said that. He heard them go and greet Kyungsoo and went back to his tree. It was Chanyeol’s idea to throw all these pathetic decorations and make the house look like something an elf would have pooped out.  
More people came in after that and they introduced themselves since Jongdae had never really seen his roommates’ friends before. Kyungsoo was chatting with the guests while Jongdae just sat at the carpet since for the first time ever there was no available chair in their apartment.  
Baekhyun and Chanyeol soon came back with the drinks and the party actually started. Jongdae was playing cards with a few other people when Baekhyun decided to plop down right next to him. He was just looking at everyone playing and would look over at Jongdae’s cards and point at what he should choose. He could feel the other really close to him. Why was he doing that in front of other people they might get the wrong idea. If Luhan saw the two of them like this Jongdae wouldn’t hear the end of it.  
Jongdae tried to not think about it but the more he tried to do so the more Baekhyun seemed to get closer, making him feel more conscious. “I need to go to the bathroom!” Jongdae announced as he got up from where he sat and shoved the cards into Baekhyun’s hands, “You play in my place.” He said before hurrying away.  
He saw Kyungsoo and Chanyeol on his way, sitting close and talking in whispers. There was no new development in their relationship after the dramatic event that happened right in Kyungsoo’s room much to Baekhyun’s disappointment. But at least they were back to normal now.  
At the bathroom Jongdae had to wait, since quite a few people gathered, before got his turn. He looked in mirror at his unpleasant self. He should at least put in some effort if he wanted to get laid anytime soon. The moment he got out, however, he was pulled to a side by none other than Byun Baekhyun. He took him to the balcony and turned towards him, “I need to talk to you.”  
“You’re not planning to jump off from here, are you?”  
“What? No.” He said, then when he saw Jongdae chuckling, “I’m trying to be serious here.”  
“Oh. Go ahead then even though I have an idea what this is gonna be about.” Baekhyun looked confused at this, “I’ve been observing stuff for some time and I think I’ve reached a conclusion.”  
“And what’s that?”  
“No. I think it’d be better if you say it.”  
“Jongdae just spit it!”  
“Ugh! Okay. I’m only saying this because it’s the vibe I’ve been getting but I think you like me in a more than friends kind of way.” Jongdae said all this way too fast but Baekhyun seemed to understand as his face turned from confusion to surprise with a mixture of what seemed anger.  
“WHAT?!” Okay so he was angry. “Why would I ever like you?”  
“So, this wasn’t what you wanted to talk about?” Jongdae asked timidly.  
“No! Why would you think that?”  
“I told you it was the vibe I was getting. C’mon how am I supposed to know you don’t like with me when you’re all touchy with me.”  
“I’m like that everyone. And anyway, if there’s anyone of us who likes the other it’s you.”  
“Me? No way.”  
“Yeah right. Who was it that got all jealous when I was dancing with that tall dude when we went out for Chanyeol’s birthday?”  
“I was doing you a favour getting you away from Kris.”  
“Yeah. I understood it the first time.”  
“Baekhyun, you’re nice and all but not hot enough to tempt me.”  
“Did you just go all Mr. Darcy on me?”  
“I was hoping you wouldn’t notice.”  
Jongdae felt Baekhyun lean in closer as he murmured an ‘I’m doing you a favour’ before covering Jongdae’s mouth with his own. Jongdae couldn’t move away from the warmth of the lips even if he tried but they had to once they were short of breath.  
“What is this?” Baekhyun was holding onto something over his head, “A mistletoe? Well, if this isn’t the most fucking cheesiest thing ever!”  
“Shut up and come back to kiss me.” Jongdae settled his hands in the other’s hair.  
“I thought you didn’t like me.” Baekhyun teased.  
“I don’t.” He said as he leaned to get back to where they were before.


End file.
